1957 AC Aceca

The success of Cliff Davis' Tojeiro sports-racer prompted AC Cars to put a very similar design into production in 1954 as the Ace. The Davis car's pretty Ferrari 166-inspired 'barchetta' bodywork was retained, as was John Tojeiro's twin-tube ladder frame chassis and the John Cooper-influenced, all-independent suspension, but the power unit was AC's own elderly 2-litre, long-stroke six. This, single-overhead-camshaft, engine originated in 1919 and with a modest 80bhp (later 100bhp) on tap, endowed the Ace with respectable, if not outstanding, performance. A hardtop version - the fastback-styled Aceca coupé - debuted at the Earls Court Motor Show in 1954.

The Aceca's hatchback body was constructed in hand-formed aluminium over a tubular steel framework, while the tubular chassis was more substantially built than the Ace's. To reduce noise levels within the cabin, AC mounted all major components on rubber bushes. The result was a well-engineered, light in weight and extremely pretty GT car in the best AC tradition. The Aceca is also notable as being, along with the Aston Martin DB2/4, one of the first hatchback designs. Very few alterations were made to the Aceca during its production life apart from a change of engines and in total just 151 were produced with the AC six.

In 1956, the more-powerful (up to 130bhp) 2-litre Bristol six-cylinder engine became available while, towards the end of production, the 2.6-litre Ford Zephyr engine was also on offer. The Bristol engine was fine but expensive, and AC were keen to try and find a cheaper alternative that was powerful enough to propel the Aceca to a decent velocity. In 1957, a 2-litre Triumph TR3 power unit was adapted and fitted but, for whatever reason, it wasn't to be.

That particular Triumph-engined car, #TAE 618, was technically a 'prototype' and being surplus to requirements, was prepared for sale. It came out of the factory on 2nd July 1957 finished in Gunmetal with red leather and fitted with a 4-speed gearbox with overdrive on third and top and was duly delivered to dealers R.N. Rudd Ltd. who quickly found a customer. An enthusiastic young airman, Wing Commander G T Dale, was the lucky buyer, and he was to enjoy the AC for a few years before selling it to its second owner who in turn sold it to the third. In October 1971, it became the property of our vendor who used it as his daily transport until 1981 when it was laid up in the garage, prior to finding time to fix one or two things and we all know how that ends.

Anyone familiar with the program Car SOS  will know that a relative of the car's owner, who might be ill or a little infirm and unable to face the task of restoring their beloved motor car, comes up with a plan to secretly spirit it out of its resting place to be collected by Tim Shaw and Fuzz Townsend and sent off for a full restoration which is fully documented and edited down to a one-hour television program (this episode was first broadcast in April 2016). The owner (in this case our vendor) believed the car was being taken by his son to display at an AC event in 2015 and was expecting it back in its original state until all was revealed at the end. Members of the AC Committee were at the reveal and it wasn’t until after the show when they got involved, that they found out that this was a one of a kind, factory-installed Triumph engine.

Although the majority of the work was carried out by the SOS team, the engine was rebuilt by TRGB and pleasingly, the glorious red leather seats and door cards were retained but the carpets and headlining were replaced. It has since been displayed at the National Motor Museum 2015-16 and at Gaydon Motor Museum for the Car SOS show in 2019, and has been featured in Practical Classics, Classic Car Weekly and the AC Club Magazine (three times).

More recently, the Aceca has been used and enjoyed on the odd occasion, but our vendor's poor health now necessitates a sale. We understand that it's mechanically very good but the paint in places suffers from micro-blistering. It's supplied with a copy of the original logbook, a continuation logbook, some older MOTs and items of correspondence.

The AC Aceca is undoubtedly one of the 1950s most attractive cars, and is still a head-turner now, however the added cachet of being a unique experimental model and a televised restoration take it to another level.